On the hunt for sharks in Boston Harbor

"On a stunning late August afternoon, researchers from the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium set out on a small boat to write the next chapter in that story. Their mission is to implant tracking devices in juvenile sand tiger sharks. Their mood is buoyant, perhaps even giddy. That atmosphere is largely the product of Ryan Knotek, the shark researcher leading the tagging efforts. Most days, his work involves sitting at his computer writing proposals, he explains."

"Knotek is a fisherman at heart whose longstanding obsession with sharks traces back to viewing Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" at a formative age. He is in his element out on the water, dicing up frozen fish to use as bait, casting lines, deftly tiptoeing on the side of the vessel as he maneuvers around other passengers. Knotek spent the night before this outing perusing fishing forums"

Researchers from the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium are implanting tracking devices in juvenile sand tiger sharks in Boston Harbor. The team targets reliable locations such as the Squantum Marshes of Quincy Bay, where young sand tigers concentrate from mid-July through September. Ryan Knotek leads the tagging work and combines field fishing skills with surgical preparation, including practicing sutures. Field operations involve baiting, casting, capturing and surgically implanting devices to monitor shark movements. Sand tiger populations declined roughly 75% by the early 1990s due to decades of overfishing.

Read at Boston.com